Seeking God's Face...

"The light of the glory of God is given us in the face of Jesus Christ," whom to see is to see the Father's face in spirit (cf. 2 Cor. 4:6). NB:  Jonathan Edwards said that the main business of the Christian life is seeking God!  We are told to seek His face ("My heart says this about You, "You are to seek My face,"  LORD, I will seek Your face.  Do not hide Your face from me..." (Psalm 27:8-9, HCSB).  God is not hiding or playing some game of cosmic hide and seek, He's waiting to be found and will reveal and authenticate Himself to all sincere seekers, but not triflers. God hides Himself that we may earnestly seek Him. ("If only I knew where I might find Him" per Job 23:3)  God's whereabouts are as near as the mention of His name! 

This search for God never ends but begins at salvation and will end at the beatific vision in glory when we do see His face.  We don't know Christ after the flesh but should recognize His Spirit at work and moving in the body, as it bears witness with our spirit (cf. Romans 8:16).  God as the Hound of Heaven seeks us who are the lost sheep:  "I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me" (Isaiah 65:1, NIV).

When Christians say, "I found it!" what they really mean is that God found them and revealed Himself to them as the hymn Amazing Grace goes, "I was lost but now am found."  Pascal also mused:  "I would not have found God had He not first sought out me."  God wants to make His face shine upon us in blessing us, and  this is His commitment to us as believers. Blessing and seeing God's face are correlated. 

The inauguration of Christ's ministry (the official initiation ceremony) at His baptism included the Father's stamp of approval and official blessing, and He knew His mission and that God was with Him--that's His name:  God is with us!  You could say Jesus was coming of age and His rite of passage.  "... [I]f only I may finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus..." (Acts 20:24, ESV).   We are to embark on our mission with God's blessing also and know that God is with us too.  We are blessed in the Beloved by association.  Having this ministry from God or ordination to His service we've also been commissioned), we can anticipate the continual blessing and prosperity of God in whatever we do to His glory and in His name. 

As we get to know Christ, we grow in likeness, for we are all works in progress and Christ wants to show Himself in our witness.  Remember, God isn't finished with us yet and always finishes what He starts (cf. Phil. 1:6).  You might think of us as a slab of marble that the divine Sculptor is attempting to make into a statue of Christ, and what he does is take away everything that doesn't resemble Christ!  We all have some rough edges to get smoothed out and that's why we are put through the crucible because our faith is more precious than silver or gold and must be tested for our sake.

To receive God's blessing, we must have faith and make the commitment to go on in self-denial to "follow Him [in lordship to salvation] more nearly, ]getting] to know Him more clearly, and to love Him more dearly,"  as quoted from Richard of Chichester.  Moses came to know God face to face, like a friend and his face, was hid with a veil to hide the glory. There is something about a person having spent time in fellowship with the Lord.  It was obvious the disciples had been with the Lord after the resurrection appearances.

Receiving God's blessing gives us a new outlook on life and new hope, purpose, and meaning in life.  With God we have dignity!  Without God, the question of life's purpose is meaningless, according to atheist Bertrand Russell.  The more we are assured of His blessing and approval of us, the more confident we get to attempt more in God's name and to venture out in even greater things expecting even greater blessings.   It is true that the greater blesses the lesser, and also that we also ought to bless one another!

But we are saved to be a blessing (cf. Zech. 8:13).   God wants our cups to run over!  One function of the body of Christ is to be a blessing to the community in mission (cf. Jer. 29:7) and to bless the members of the body in ministry to one another. We all can bless each other with our spiritual gifts and teach one another in discipleship or mentoring.   May we pray God's blessings on each other.

The more we become like Christ, the more blessings we receive in Him to share.  We are blessed to pass it on.  "But He gives more grace..." (cf. James 4:6)!  There is more to salvation than being forgiven:  to seek the Lord's sanction and blessing in all our labors. We should see God at work in us.  And we are to ever seek God's blessings in our work for temporal as well as spiritual things.  He blesses us with every spiritual blessing in Christ (cf. Eph. 1:3) and the promises to Abraham that God will bless those who bless us is ours to claim, for all who have faith in Christ are children of Abraham (cf. Gal. 3:7,29) and we are joint-heirs of Christ.

In prayer, we can access or gain entree into the throne room of God for prayer in boldness (cf. Heb. 4:16), as Moses spoke to God face to face as to a friend, and to whom no prophet ever did again.  What unrealized, untapped potential there is in prayer there is when we have faith in Jesus' name. 

The antithesis of seeking God's face is to be hiding from God or the truth.  Sooner or later we may meet our "burning bush" and confront God and have a moment of truth with Him.  Then we are sanctified by the truth (cf. John 17:17) and realize its power over us.   We are to "contend for the faith" or the truth delivered to the saints.  The polar opposite of truth is apostasy and this is not the final lot of the believer.

If God were to withhold His grace from us for any length of time, we'd be without hope and God in the world, just as George Whitefield said of a man going to the gallows: "There but for the grace of God go I."  God can harden the heart of a person who rejects Him in judgment much like He did to Pharaoh when he didn't believe the miracles Moses performed with the "finger of God."  For God hardens whom He will and has mercy on whom He will (cf. Romans 9:18); it's His prerogative to do as He reserves the right to do with His ultimate free will.     Soli Deo Gloria!

Great Expectations?

"I believe that I shall see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living" (cf. Psalm 27:13).
"I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living" (Psalm 27:13, KJV). "Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and he shall srengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD" (Psalm 27:14, KJV).   "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength" (Isaiah 40:31, KJV).   "... [F]or it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you" (Hosea 10:12, KJV).  

Charles Dickens wrote the book by the title Great Expectations and made this a treasured classic.  William Carey preached: "Attempt great things for God; expect great things from God."  We are to be ever-waiting for the coming of Christ, the Parousia (Second Advent or Coming).  In a manner of speaking, we're all "expecting." We all need delayed gratification.  We're pregnant with God's hope and promise!   It's not just during Christmas that we should honor and recognize the magi or wise men, but today to emulate them.  In other words, "wise men still seek Him!"  This is the common message on many a greeting card because it applies, resonates, and hits home.

Jonathan Edwards said that the main business of the Christian life is the seeking of God.  We are to always seek His face and R. C. Sproul says that finding God begins at salvation, just like it says in Amazing Grace:  "I was lost but now am found."  The Good Shepherd found us as lost sheep, we didn't find Him.   Pascal said that if God hadn't first sought him, he never would've found God. Scripture says:  "I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me" (Isaiah 65:1, NIV). 

His coming is sure; are you ready?  Being prepared for it isn't just a matter of making our funeral arrangements and taking care of our final expenses!  Hezekiah was told that he was about to die and to get his house in order!  Do you feel that if you were to die today that you have lived according to the will of God and have completed your mission?  When David had completed God's purpose, God took him (cf. Acts. 13:36).  We're all here for a purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil, and God orchestrates and micromanages all of history for His glory and plans with no backup plan or Plan B.  We are either in the will of God or not, and the safest place to be is in the will of God.  We are bold when we know God is with us just like the apostles willingly gave their lives for the gospel message as martyrs.  They considered it an honor to suffer for His name's sake.

We must wait patiently on the Lord, for He will not tarry and His promise will be fulfilled in God's timetable. Waiting can try our patience, but the great hope we have should make it worth it and give us the grace to do God's will till the end.  There is great expectation in anticipation!   Our payoff is great and this is a greater motive to wait patiently, for the present trials we endure are nothing compared to the reward we'll see in heaven.  Simeon was told by the LORD that he'd see the Messiah before he died and when he did it turned out to be worth the wait and he could depart in peace.  We may not die happy, but if we died fulfilled, that is much greater, for happiness can be deceiving.  Over seventeen million hours ago John said that we were "in the last hour."  This only shows God's perception of time, not that the Lord tarries or delays His coming, for we know that His patience means our salvation.

Jesus said that if we seek, we shall find, but we must search for God with all our heart (cf. Jer. 29:13; Deut. 4:29) to find Him, for He doesn't deal with triflers.  In our expectations, we are to aim high for God has not set any limit as to how far He can take us if we trust in Him. We are to walk on water and move mountains!   But if we aim at nothing we will surely get there.  Therefore, dream big!

In the final analysis, we must realize that the enemy is a killjoy seeking to discourage us from finding our mission in life or calling in Christ (we're then as meandering stars) and his ominous words are:  "Hath God said?"  He asked Eve this and got her first to doubt God's Word, then to believe his words, and finally to disobey God's Word.  God wants to be our Guiding Light, Beacon, and GPS through this life and we must let Him lead the way.

This reminds me of Alice in Wonderland where she asks the Cheshire Cat at the fork in the road, "Would you tell me please, which way I ought to walk from here?"  He said that depends upon where you want to go.  Alice says, "I don't care where."  The cat tells her that it doesn't matter which way she walks then!  Alice says, "As long as I get somewhere!"  The cat says you'll do that if you walk long enough--you're sure to get somewhere!"   But we want God's best!   In sum, we must not "settle" but seek God's will for our lives and not some default plan.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Man's Never-ending Quest

"The only system of thought that Christ will fit into is the one where He is the starting point."  --Athanasius, church father and father of orthodoxy.  
"But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death..." (Heb. 2:9, KJV, italics mine).   
"For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom..." (1 Cor. 1:21, ESV, italics added).  
"If a man is not made for God, why is he happy only in God?  If a man is made for God, why is he opposed to God?"  --Blaise Pascal, French scientist, mathematician, and philosopher
"Our hearts are restless till they find their rest in [God]."  --St. Aurelius Augustine, Bishop of Hippo
"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation."  --Henry David Thoreau, author
"The search for God begins at salvation."  --R. C. Sproul, theologian
"Searching for God is the main business of the Christian life."  --Jonathan Edwards, theologian and revivalist


Whether mankind admits it or not, he's on a search for something to fulfill his inner needs--he's looking the Jesus he doesn't know.  He seeks the "pleasures of sin for a season" (cf. Heb. 11:35).  He may find it in the pleasures the world has to offer (cf. 1 John 2:14-15) or in some kind of intellectual fulfillment, but he will never be satisfied till he has found it in God because we are made to know God and to love Him in a personal relationship. God desires to get personal!  This void or hole in mankind's heart is a vacuum only God can fill (according to Pascal) and all of us will naturally seek crutches to lean on in order to find a substitute. Augustine said "we are restless till we find our rest in [God]!"  Man is a religious being who is meant to worship God, and if not, will find a substitute god to worship. He will not find it in political freedom, education, culture, higher standards of living, materialism, sex, drugs, nor false religions, but only in the truth that sets free.

Nature abhors a vacuum and man has expressed it in his boredom and frustration with himself and the world.  Man is not an animal in heat seeking pleasure and avoiding pain, but is hard-wired for meaningful work, dignity, purpose, and service in God.   But "emptiness is the ultimate truth," according to the Dalai Lama and Carl Jung said that "the central neurosis of our time is emptiness!"  We instinctively sense something wrong with us and the picture.  Billy Graham says, "We grasp at every passing straw, and even as we clutch it disappears." We are designed to be fulfilled in God doing His will and work, and ignoring design breaks faith with the Designer: for we are meant for purpose, honor, meaning, and dignity because we are in God's image.

So many today think of God as a thing to be used, such as the "Force," of Star Wars fame, but God is a divine person that loves us.  We use and manipulate things, but we know, relate to, and love persons.  Mankind will not admit it but he's really searching for the benefits without the Benefactor!  He may be looking for peace of mind (but not in Christ), prosperity (but not in God's economy), intellectual fulfillment (but not the truth to set him free), better relationships (but not humbly and not with God), (the answer, but not the Answerer!) or even just to know if there is a God or not (out of curiosity, not sincerity), without committing oneself to Him.

Truth is free but not cheap, we must be willing to come to Christ for it.  We look for what we want to see and view the world according to what we are, not what it is.  If we want forgiveness, we must first become convicted and file for spiritual bankruptcy, realizing we cannot please God on our own merit.  And so the qualification for salvation is to realize one's unworthiness! We must first realize our emptiness and need to be filled and made complete.

It should be noted that the Jews of Jesus' day were looking for a Messiah, but the one of conventional standards would deliver them from Roman oppression.  They wanted a military hero but got a pacifist that would rule the world of hearts in love.  It is a proven psychological fact that our prejudices and inclinations bias our viewpoints and and worldview--known as confirmation bias.  No one is totally objective and we all must realize that just because He didn't fit the profile doesn't mean He's not who He claimed to be.  The Jews saw no personal need of forgiveness or preaching and weren't seeking a Savior.

But Jesus is not always what we want Him to be and we must accept Him for who He is--the full package--or not at all, which is rejection.  We cannot dichotomize Christ and accept forgiveness without lordship and divide His offices and personhood as Lord and Savior--we must trust Him as Savior and also submit to Him as Lord of all.  We dare not "divide His person nor confound His nature," according to the church fathers.  

Jesus didn't come to do our bidding but to do the will of the Father, which was total relinquishment of His will to the Father's as the motto of His life.   Jesus is the only person who was born to die, yes to complete His mission He had to be crucified and die for our sins, carrying our penalty and paying the full cost.  We also have a purpose to fulfill God's purpose for our lives, and when we are done we can say with Paul that we have nothing to boast of but what Christ has accomplished through us.   Paul only wanted to complete the mission that God gave him (cf. Acts 20:24) and that ministry being obedient to the heavenly vision and the will of God for his life.  We also must live with a purpose and submit ourselves to God's will, which is not a one-time event but continual, progressive, and ongoing.

To really see, we need the eyes of our hearts opened (cf. Eph. 1:18) and that can only be done by Jesus Christ illuminating us through the convicting power of the Holy Spirit using the Word (cf. 1 Thess. 1:5; 2:13) to speak God's message.  The whole world is blinded by Satan  (cf. 2 Cor. 4:4) and doesn't see a need for God apart from a work of grace in the heart.   They have eyes but see not nor perceive (cf. Isaiah 6:9).  The whole world is under the influence and power of the Adversary (cf. 1 John 5:19)!

But Christ, as Savior, came to set us free from Satan's power, our sin nature, the sting of death, and the influence of the world-system that corrupts our minds.  The world at large doesn't see Jesus at work in Providence and is blind to the works of God, sometimes even calling them flukes, accidents, luck, or chance.  We all tend to see what we want to see!  No one has perfect objectivity but God. 

We must not become distracted by the world and it's pleasures and realize that God is at work in us to do and to will of His good pleasure (cf. Phil. 1:6); we are the vessels of honor being used for His glory if we let Him (cf. Isaiah 43:7).  It has been said by Corrie ten Boom, "If we look at the world, we'll be distressed; if we look at ourselves, we will be depressed; but if we look at Christ, we'll be at rest."  The way to victory is to keep our eyes on Jesus, the "Author and Finisher of our faith" and this will keep us focused on spiritual priorities.

We must "consider Jesus"  (cf. Heb. 3:1) and look at Him (cf. Isaiah 45:22), and also to realize that we "see Jesus" (cf. Heb. 2:9) spiritually and in Scripture that it's all about Him and if we keep focused on Him, all else pales in comparison.  We must not resort to the quest of the Greek disciples who said, "But we would see Jesus," for it's with our spiritual eyes we must see and be illuminated. It is a fact that believing is seeing, not seeing is believing!  

To find God, we must be open to who He is and who He claimed to be. We are to always seek His face!   Sincerity matters, but it's not everything. Our praise is recognizing Him for who He is as the eternal Son of God.  He's not just some babe in a manger who's cute and comfortable with our sensibilities and sentimentalism, but the Almighty God in the flesh--Lord at His birth.  Yuletide brings the revelation that He was born into our space-time continuum to identify with us but He did it in the fullness of time (cf. Gal. 4:4), when all was according to plan.

He entered history--the time-space continuum! And this is history that can be vouched for!  But whether He's born in us is a matter of salvation!  In our never-ending quest, we should not put God in a box, making Him too small, or we'll never find Him.  He can be real to us and our quest can be complete in Him as the "Captain of our soul and Master of our fate."   Only knowing and acknowledging the real Jesus satisfies and the danger is to accept "another Spirit, another gospel, another Jesus."  (cf. 2 Cor. 11:4).    The divine diagnosis:  Man needs God!    In summation, NB:  Wise men still seek Him!   

CAVEATS:  DON'T LET YOUR CONCEPT OF GOD BECOME TOO SMALL OR YOUR THOUGHTS OF HIM TOO HUMAN!   I MATTERS HOW BIG YOUR GOD IS, NOT HOW BIG IS YOUR FAITH?   ITS OBJECT IS VITAL.      Soli Deo Gloria!

The Place Of The Everlasting God

"God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in time of trouble" (Psalm 46:1, NIV).
"GOD IS our refuge and strength, a very help in times of trouble" (cf. Psalm 46:1, KJV).
"You are my hiding place..." (Psalm 32:7, NKJV).  
"You are my hiding place and my shield..." (Psalm 119:114, NKJV).
"Am I a God near at hand, says the LORD, 'And not a God afar off?  Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him?' says the LORD; 'Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the LORD."  (cf. Jer. 23:23-24).  
"The eternal God is your dwelling place [refuge], and underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deut. 33:27, ESV). 
"He is there, and He is not silent."  --Francis A. Schaeffer

Abraham sure found out that God is never AWOL, or even MIA, but always the "God who is there," to borrow from one of Francis Schaeffer's books.   He is the God "who was, who is, and who is to be": the everlasting God--El Olam.   We can be assured that God is not some state of being (Is-ness), but a living Being (Is-ing) that is alive forevermore.  Jesus was dead and is alive and is the eternal Son of the Father---He didn't become the Son upon birth.  

God's nature is permanent--we can sure count on God--and God is always in character--never capricious, arbitrary, or whimsical like we are; He is predictable in the sense that He is the Great Promise Keeper and can be counted on to live up to His Word, which He exalts above all His name (cf. Psalm 138:2).  "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Heb. 13:8, NIV); this should give us comfort that He will never change His mind concerning us and our status in Him, though our state of fellowship may vary--we're still family to Him. 

Abraham found out that God was still God no matter where He went and that He wasn't just some local deity that ruled Canaan.  We cannot escape His sovereignty or power!  God transcends time because He created it!   The time-space continuum is relative to us and doesn't relate to God at all, for He is neither defined, confined, controlled, limited, nor improved by time itself.   What is time but a corollary of space and matter, and if neither of these existed, neither would time!  In our conception, things only go in succession--forward as they progress.

Therefore, we conclude that everything in the time-space continuum had a beginning or origin, even the universe--God is not in that continuum and therefore had no beginning.  Scientists even speculate that time began at the big bang; Scripture references the inauguration of time in 2 Tim. 1:9 and in Titus 1:2.  So theologians knew this before scientists "discovered time."  Now, the concept to be understood, is that if God created or invented time, He cannot be subject to it nor controlled by it as its slave--God is totally free and self-existent, slave to nothing.  God is outside time as it were and is able to manipulate it to His will--one year is as a thousand!

We can be assured of God's providence and guidance because He controls the future and also is able to know it by virtue of His sovereignty over time.  Everything seems like NOW to God!  He dwells in eternity and we live as the slaves of time.   But what happened at the incarnation of Jesus, but that God the Son entered our dimension of time and lived in subordination to the Father, emptying Himself, known as the kenosis, of the independent usage of His divine nature. 

This fact of the eternity of God may have been novel.  Had it dawned on him that God is still God everywhere and isn't territorial or local?  It was also in vogue to think that the more gods, the better! But having knowledge of the one true God was enough for him to feel secure and safe from his enemies.  Abimelech told Abraham that God was "obviously" with him "in everything [he does]." The testimony of the eternal God is apparent even to the outsider as we witness to them.

It is the preaching of the Word that can brings conviction, not our brilliance or arguments (cf. 1 Thess. 1:5); 2:13)--Abraham kept his faith in God and it showed.  Thanks be to God that we can count on Him always being in character and never out of harmony and sync with His plan (we can be on the same page of His will)--for He's not subject to moods, maudlin sentimentality, nor any human vulnerability.      Soli Deo Gloria!

Wherefore Art Thou, My God?

"There is no one who understands; no one who seeks God" (Romans 3:11, HCSB).
"'Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it'" (Gen. 28:16, HCSB).
"... [W]hile my enemies continually taunt me, saying, 'Where is this God of yours?'" (Psalm 42:3, NIV).  
"Why let the nations say, 'Where is their God?'" (Psalm 115:2, NIV).  

NB:  WHEN ASKED, "WHERE IS GOD?"  WE OUGHT TO REPLY, "WHERE ISN'T HE?"  

Job wondered of the whereabouts of God and sought Him wholeheartedly, only to be finally rewarded by His visitation.  Remember: God didn't move, we did!   "If only I knew how to find Him so that I could go to His throne" (Job 23:3, HCSB).  If Job can wonder, so can we; not that He's deserted or left us alone, but that we sense His presence and feel in His will and at peace with Him. The Lord promises to be found by all sincere searchers, but His pet peeve or main complaint against man is that he doesn't seek God (cf. Rom. 3:11).

"... But from there, you will search for the LORD your God, and you will find Him when you seek Him with all your heart and all your soul."  (Deut. 4:29, HCSB).  Jesus reiterated that if we seek, we shall find; God is no man's debtor and will authenticate Himself.  But Isaiah even recognized that God is is making Himself known to triflers and the merely curious or disobedient, in that he said, "Yes, You are a God who hides Himself..." (Isa. 45:15, HCSB).  Jeremiah also noticed that if we seek we will surely find God, "You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.  I will be found by you..." (Jer. 29:13-14, HCSB).

Our God is the God who is there (Jehovah Shammah) and He is here even when we don't know it, for He's always as close as the mention of His name.  Some people think they have found God, but He found them first: Pascal said, "I wouldn't have found God, had He not first found me."  Jesus is the great Hound of Heaven in search of lost sheep and He will find them.  This is verified in Scripture, Isaiah 65:1, HCSB, as follows:  "'I was sought by those who did not ask; I was found by those who did not seek Me...."  There used to be a bumper sticker that proclaimed, "I found it!" but they obviously didn't realize what Amazing Grace says, "I was lost, but now am found."  (Then they changed their rallying cry to "He found me!"  He found them!  God wasn't lost!  And God is not called it!

Francis Schaeffer wrote a book about God's presence saying "He is there, and He is not silent."  He said that Christianity is about the God who is there! Many who search for Jesus have just missed the boat on fellowship and have unconfessed sin or spiritual skeletons in their closets, and forget that He's as close as confessing all known sin, (call it as it is without cover up) for God indwells each believer and sometimes we quench the Spirit's fire and even insult the Spirit of grace, which grieves Him.   Let us always live up to the calling we have received in a worthy manner (cf. Eph. 4:1).

Now God has no galactic address or physical place of residence, for His everywhere-ness is apparent in His Providence and dealings with man.  For God is spirit!  If we approach Him in prayer and get entree to the throne room of grace and mercy, it's like entering another dimension and the presence of God.  For it has been postulated that God is invisible because He's in another dimension!  But we are not capable of seeing the invisible and the spirit world.

So where is God?  "'Am I a God who is only near'--this is the LORD's declaration--'and not a God who is far away?  Can a man hide himself in secret places and where I cannot see him?'--the LORD's declaration..  'Do I not fill the heavens and all the earth?' --the LORD's declaration"  (Jer. 23:23-24, HCSB).  Thus we are not capable of comprehending His presence:  "The finite cannot penetrate (grasp, or contain) the infinite" (old axiom).

In sum, after Adam had rebelled and fell in the Garden he hid out of shame and guilt and possibly wondered where God was or even wasn't, only to find out that God didn't hide, he did--and to discover you cannot hide from God!     Soli Deo Gloria! 

Wherefore Art Thou, My God?

"God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us" (Acts 17:27, NIV).
 "Truly you are a God who has been hiding himself..." (Isa. 45:15, NIV).
"Oh, that I knew where I might find him..." (Job 23:3, NIV).

"I am sought of them that asked not for me, I am found of them that sought me not..." (cf. Isaiah 65:1). 

Paul reminded the Athenians that God isn't far from any one of us (cf. Acts 17:27)!  The whole message of Christianity is that we can actually find God!  Job thought he lost God and despaired where he was: "O, that I knew where I might find Him."  God is not hiding, He just wants us to search earnestly and sincerely.  God is no man's debtor and will authenticate Himself to us for seeking Him. Pascal wondered this very point:  What we see is not the manifest presence nor total absence of God, but the presence of a hidden God.

God doesn't want to be so obvious that it takes no faith to see Him, but there is enough light if one chooses to see, and enough darkness to keep the stubborn and rebellious blinded.  There is always enough evidence for the willing, or never enough evidence for the unwilling. No one can claim ignorance due to lack of evidence, for the heavens declare the glory of God; no one has an excuse in God's view. 

The doctrine of the immensity of God and the omnipresence shows that God is wholly present everywhere!  He says, "...' I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite'"(Isa. 57:15, NIV).  When God seems distant or MIA it is not His fault, but ours:  He didn't move; we did!  Recall how God asked Adam as an analogy: "Where are you, Adam?"  This is where walking with Christ matters, to keep in touch with the Almighty on an intimate basis.

It is a fact that God tests us by removing some of the sense of His presence as He did to Hezekiah to see what was really on his heart (2 Chron. 32:31).  Our faith must be tested by fire!  (Cf. 1 Pet. 1:7). The measure of our faith is not our ecstasies or experiences, but our obedience!  Abraham by faith obeyed!  Dietrich Bonhoeffer's famous dictum is pertinent:  "Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes."

Christianity, in essence, isn't just about believing in God, but God in us and about the God who is there!  As Francis Schaeffer wrote:  "He is there and He is not silent."  That's why we must maintain our dialog and communication link open to become intimate and near to God as our Father.  We are never alone if God is with us!  We have not lost all if God is in us!  We must examine ourselves to see if Jesus is indeed in us (cf. 2 Cor. 13:5)!

And so God is transcendent, ubiquitous, and immanent:  He is both above and beyond as well as near to every one of us.  It's not about a galactic address but a spiritual realm or domain we cannot see.  The reason is that He is not defined, bound, or confined by space, for He cannot be limited by the time-space continuum that He created.   In a sense, God is extra-dimensional!  However, we can enter His presence in the privilege of prayer!    Soli Deo Gloria! 

God Is Here

"But no one asks, 'Where is God my Maker, who provides us with songs in the night'" (Job 35:10, HCSB).
"Yes, You are a God who hides Himself..." (Isa. 45:15, HCSB). 
"'I was sought by those who did not ask.'  I was found by those who did not seek Me.  I said:  Here I am, here I am..." (Isa. 65:1, HCSB).
"What can be seen on earth indicates neither the total absence of God nor his manifest presence, but rather the presence of a hidden God."  --Blaise Pascal

Jesus' name is Immanuel or "God with us" as interpreted.  Christian faith can be reduced to knowing Christ and making Him known, done by living for Christ and having a consistent testimony that isn't jeopardized.  We know God well enough to recognize His presence and the moving of the Spirit.  Francis Schaeffer said that Christianity is about the God who is there!  It's not just believing in God, but God in us!  We must believe in God as He is and not as He isn't; i.e., in truth!  There is another Jesus, another gospel, and another Spirit to beware of (cf. 2 Cor. 11:4).  We don't just believe there is a God but believe God!

The point is that God resides in every believer via the presence of the Holy Spirit, and Christ in us is the hope of glory.  We are His heart to spread love, His ears to listen to those in need and troubled, His hands to do His work, His voice to speak up for Him, and His mind to think His thoughts and explain or defend God to the unbeliever.

One prof wrote GODISNOWHERE on the blackboard and asked his students what they saw:  most thought it meant that God is nowhere! It should be:  God is now here!   We see what we want to see or are conditioned to see, and if we have no faith in God we will not believe He is here!  Surely, the presence of the Lord is in this place!  As Francis Schaeffer postulated:  "He is there and He is not silent."  Don't rule God out of the picture, for only He sees the big picture! God is ubiquitous or omnipresent and has no interstellar address!  He literally fills the heavens!  His immensity refers to the fact that all of His attributes are everywhere present, not limited or bound by space or time.  Think of God as dwelling in another dimension in which we are unaware.  But we know He exists because of the things He does just like we know the wind exists by its effects.  This explains William Cowper penning his hymn:  "God works in mysterious ways His wonders to perform."

We need not wonder of God's whereabouts, for He's always as close as the mention of His name--He is no man's debtor and will authenticate Himself to everyone who diligently seeks Him (seek and you will find!). When the skeptic asks, "Where is God?"  Reply, "Where isn't God?"  The believer sees God in all of creation from the sub-atomic to the interstellar with everything in its order and design according to the Designer.

God is both transcendent and immanent!  He is"not far from each one of us" (cf. Acts 17:27), yet He dwells in the heavenly spheres (cf. Isa. 57:15). He is present through the ministry of the Spirit and works in each of us according to His will.  Since God created the time-space continuum, He is not obliged to be limited to it nor defined by it but can suspend its power and act outside its forces.  Christians are more fortunate than contemporary believers who didn't have the resident Holy Spirit and the complete canon of Scripture to be our plumbline.

In summation, we should all be like famed Bro. Lawrence, a French Carmelite monk, who practiced the presence of God even doing the mundane chores of dishwashing and wrote The Practice of the Presence of God, a good-read and classic study in the discipline of one's prayer life.  NB:  "... [A]nd the name of the city from that day on will be: Yahweh [the LORD} is There" (Ezek. 48:35, HCSB). I'll close quoting Francis Schaeffer again:  "He is there and He is not silent."     Soli Deo Gloria! 

The Great Quest Of Man

"... But if you search for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him"  (Deut. 4:29, NLT).

You cannot deny the fact that you have been looking for something all your life to find some sort of satisfaction or fulfillment.  People are looking for love in all the wrong places!  Even Solomon tried money, pleasure, knowledge, wisdom, peace of mind or with others, work and ambition, and whatever the world had to offer, including women, but all to no avail!  The wiser and educated we become, the more emptiness we are capable of, and the vacuum inside grows.  Nature abhors vacuums and this is the worst state we can be in, to have no meaning and purpose in life.  Today people cannot even entertain themselves, they're so empty (famed Christian psychiatrist and student of Freud, Carl Gustav Jung, said that the "central neurosis of our time is emptiness"), and this void makes them feel blase even about modern-day achievements like the space shuttle or HST (Hubble space telescope).

The point is that, though people sometimes won't admit it, they're on some kind of frantic search for happiness, fulfillment, or meaning, or even find the answers to life's problems.  Augustine rightly pegged man as having an inward desire only God can satisfy ("we are restless till find our rest in God"), and Pascal agreed that man has a "God-shaped vacuum" in his soul.

We promote the American Way, as it were, and this is highly imperialistic and is known as American exceptionalism, in that we think we've got the market cornered on the good life.  Actually, Americans are no more happy than other developed nations.  Americans seek to impose their way of life on the world as superlative and exemplary:  better education, political freedom, and high standards of living.  Yet we still suffer high crime and citizens with no reason to go on living, with rising suicide rates even higher than homicide rates.  People are looking for something, indeed, but not for God, though they think they are:  they're really searching for meaning in life, the answer, or relief from anxiety or depression.  In other words, man does not seek God, the Benefactor, but the benefits (cf. Rom. 3:11).

There are fringe benefits to knowing God, and He does bless His children, but we must seek Him and find Him: this endeavor begins at the point of salvation, and the Christian life's business is pursuing God and His face.  Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father, and it would suffice; however, Jesus said that we see Him and that is the equivalent.  The writer of Hebrews (2:9) explains this Beautific Vision as:  "But we do see Jesus..."  The eyes of our hearts have been opened and anyone born of the Spirit can see the kingdom of God at work.

In man's desperation, he grasps at every passing straw, and as he reaches for it, it slips away.  Many are filled with boredom because of their emptiness and lonely despair, which can only be cured by knowing Christ and following Him.

In the final analysis, man has an intrinsic and natural duty to obey God, rewarded or not, simply because He's our Creator.  Our purpose for living is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever (cf. Isa. 43:7).  Without God life is nonsensical.  Whatever we do, ought to be to God's glory (1 Cor. 10:31), and find enjoyment, for this is the gift of God--our labor to show the image of God.  Never be discouraged doing the work of the Lord (slackness in it is cursed in Jer. 48:10), "knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain" (1 Cor. 15:58, HCSB).  Rick Warren says that the consequences or your job won't last forever [but for your purposes, mission, and ministry will].  William James says we ought to spend our life on something that will outlast it--indeed every day we strike a chord that will vibrate for eternity in the symphony of heaven.
Soli Deo Gloria! 

My God, Wherefore Art Thou?

Pascal mused:  "What can be seen on earth indicates neither the total absence of God nor his manifest presence, but rather the presence of a hidden God;" and "I would not have searched for Thee if Thou hadst not found me."  The spiritual have dry periods when they had to search for God and wonder about His presence too:  "... How long will You hide Your face from me?"  (Psalm 13:1, NASB).  It's all about seeking God--being found--"I was lost, but now am found!"  We don't find Him: Isaiah 65:1 (NASB):  "I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me; I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me...."  He was abandoned on the cross and knows what separation from God feels like.  There is no temptation we can face that He hasn't been victorious over and can deliver us from.  Feeling alone?  God sometimes removes Himself to see what's on our heart, as He did to Hezekiah (cf. 2 Chronicles 32:21).

Francis Schaeffer wrote a book about God and declared: He is there and He is not silent.  God doesn't cater to triflers (cf. Heb. 11:6), but only those who sincerely and diligently seek Him with their whole heart and are willing to do His will.  We need to listen with the ears of our spirit and see with our hearts, as God opens up our deaf ears to hear Him.  "What we do see is Jesus" (cf. Heb. 2:9, NLT):  "The eyes of [our] understanding being enlightened" (Ephesians 1:18, KJV).  We need God to open the eyes of our hearts and see with our spirits (cf. Psalm 119:18).  When Jesus came He couldn't convince the skeptics and cynics no matter what sign He performed, they didn't want to believe (cf. John 12:37)!

You must want to believe or you won't, God doesn't make you do something you don't want to do, though He can change your mind and make you willing--this is a divine paradox of His sovereignty and providence.  People who know God see Him manifest everywhere, while the natural man or unbeliever doesn't see God even if He were right in front of his face.  The fact is that God's fingerprints and impact are everywhere and all we have to do is look.

Job felt abandoned by God and rightly so, he was undergoing a test of faith from God being administered through the hand of Satan.  Elihu wondered why no one asks, "Where is God, my Maker, who gives songs in the night?"  (cf. Job 35:10).  There does come a time when it is fitting and proper to wonder whether we are walking in the Spirit and or with the Lord.  We are to walk by faith, not by sight (cf. 2 Cor. 5:7), but we are to examine ourselves on a regular basis (especially during the Lord's Supper) and see whether Christ is living through us.  When we see Christ living in us and we have an exchanged life, not just a changed life, we have the ultimate proof of God's presence. Romans 8:16 says, "The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God."

When we are saved, it doesn't mean we have found God--the spiritual journey has just begun.  Seeing God's face is the main business of the Christian pilgrimage.  We initiate our search as believers, for the Bible clearly says that no one seeks God (no unbeliever, cf. Rom. 3:11).  When people "seek" God, they're looking for the benefits, not the Benefactor: peace of mind, the answer, prosperity, deliverance, fulfillment, or purpose--they don't want God!  Christians don't see with their physical eyes, but with their souls.  When we are saved, we don't just gain the Benefactor, but blessings as fringe benefits.  They want what they can get, or what He can do for them.   God has a blessing in mind for us, which we cannot pay back, don't deserve, and can't earn or ingratiate ourselves for.  It's a blessing to serve Him (cf. Psalm 103:2; 116:12; Rom. 11:35). Elihu declares the despair of Job:  "For he has said, 'It profits a man nothing that he should take delight in God" (Job 34:9, ESV).

Some may ask the believer, "Where is this God of yours?"  We are His hands, feet, voice, heart, and mind on earth and are to do His bidding and work for the lost--He lives in our hearts!   When God seems far, we may doubt Him, but it's only so that we can learn to seek Him.  David asked in Psalm 10:1 (NASB):  "Why do You stand afar off, O LORD?  Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?"  The psalmist goes on to say the wicked are too proud to seek God, they seem to think He's dead and there is no God.  What's is appalling today, is that many professing believers say they believe in God, but live like there is no God--they are so-called practical atheists!  Our job as believers who know the Lord is to make Him known and seen through us!  The world will not deny God is with us when they see God in us!

Isaiah proclaims in Isaiah 45:15 (NASB):  "Truly, You are a God who hides Himself...."  God doesn't force Himself on anyone and will only reveal Himself to those who seek Him:  "But from there you will seek the LORD our God, and You will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul"  (Deut. 4:19, NASB; cf. Jer. 29:13; Isa. 55:6;). There is a window of opportunity when God opens the door, so to speak, and we must "seek Him while He may be found" (cf. Isa. 55:6).  "Call upon Him while He is near: (cf. Isa. 55:6).  Job was in despair and came to doubt God's presence, though he was a godly man:  "Oh that I knew where I might find Him, That I might come to His seat!"  (Job 23:3, NASB).  We're in good company if we have searched for God because even Job did!

God is no man's debtor and no respecter of persons:  All who seek Him will find Him without any iffy reservations.  Psalm 9:10 (HCSB): "... You have not abandoned those who seek You, Yahweh."   But He demands sincerity, heart, and soul.  Where is God?  He is here, never yo forsake us; finding Him makes us realize:  He was there all the time!  God is never MIA (missing in action)--never doubt the whereabouts of God the LORD Shammah (cf. Ezek. 48:35),  "the One who is there."  When they say, "...Where is your God" (Psalm 42:3, NASB), we are to reply, "Where isn't He?  Christianity is about the God who is here and about the God who is in us.

Don't forget Jesus' name: "God is with us" (Immanuel).  The point of salvation is the restoration of our relationship with Him, and to put God in us (cf. 1 Cor. 3:16; Col. 1:27; Eph. 4:6)!  Cognizance is our responsibility and fault--grieving Him and not acknowledging His presence.  Point to ponder: Guess who moved?  God asked Adam where he was!  Hint to heed: Practicing/exercising of your spiritual gift will kindle the fire of the Spirit within!

A word to the wise is sufficient: Wise men still seek Him!  "Be still and know that I am God" (cf. Ps. 46:10).  Soli Deo Gloria!

Frantic Search For Happiness

Augustine said that our hearts are restless until they find their rest in God (we can even get desperate).   Pascal said that there's a God-shaped vacuum that only God can fill.  The chief symptom of the times is emptiness and boredom with life--not feeling fulfilled or what they would call "happy."  We are not made for boredom or idleness, but to serve God in productive living--work manifests the image of God in us. Nature abhors a vacuum and it is unnatural for us to be bored, as only humans can be, because we are in the image of God, meant to glorify Him and have a relationship with Him.

God doesn't exist for our happiness, but we exist for His glory and only when we seek God with our whole heart can we find happiness.  If you are desperate to find it, it will remain elusive.  Happiness is akin to reaching for each passing straw, and as you grasp it, it disappears--it is a nebulous thing indeed. Americans have the "right to the pursuit of happiness," but God gives us no right to happiness.

Happiness depends upon "happenings," and, even if you are in jail, you are not happy about the circumstances--but can still rejoice in the Lord, and also when you are mourning the loss of a loved one are you not happy per se.  But the Word says "... [For] the joy of the LORD is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10, ESV).  We can have "inner joy" despite our circumstances and rejoice always in the Lord (cf. Phil. 4:4) as Paul did from prison in his treatise on joy in the book of Philippians.  Joy comes from within and needs no outward stimuli.

Temporal and spiritual bliss is only found in Jesus.  It is said that the secret to joy is to think of Jesus first, others second, and yourself last!   Dr. Albert Schweitzer (Nobel Prize winner) said that the happiest people are those who've learned to serve.  If you are busy serving you will not think of yourself.  A non-serving Christian is a contradiction in terms and you should be so busy serving others, you don't have time to worry about yourself.

We are bound to have emotional ups and downs, but we are not to ever change our attitude towards a life of contentment.  God doesn't sanction or countenance excessive whining or complaining.  God wants us to be satisfied with what we have and not to covet nor be greedy for ill-gotten gain.  The "love of money is the root of all kinds of evil."  If we love money, we will miss out on the real pleasures of life that money can't buy.

Instead of seeking happiness as your goal, and God's plan is not necessarily your happiness--so don't tell Him that all you want is to be happy--God wants you to do His will!  God's purpose is to bring glory to Himself through you and for your life to have an impact for His kingdom.  We need fulfillment and meaning in life, not necessarily happiness.  The purpose for a living is a basic need of man and when you have a reason why you have to endure something, such as a trial or tribulation, you can endure it because you know God is with you:  "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you ..."  (cf. Isa. 43:2, ESV).

Being happy or blessed as the Beatitudes calls it is a byproduct of living in God's will and obedience. Christ lists eight principles to live by if we want true "blessedness."  Remember:  happiness depends upon happenings!  Happiness that's more than skin deep and lasts is kingdom happiness that results from being in the image of Christ:  For example, being meek, humble, peacemakers, pure in heart, merciful, etc.  The more Christlike we become the more fulfilled we are and enjoy a more meaningful life.

Paul most likely suffered more than any other apostle (cf. 2 Cor. 11) and rejoiced in them.  In Philippians, he said he had learned the secret of contentment in all situations--in plenty and in need. We should likewise aim to be content (cf. Philippians 4:13) with whatever situation we find ourselves, and not think that God is holding out on us.  We should emulate Paul's attitude; we have the choice to choose our attitude no matter the circumstance.

If you begin a frantic search for happiness, it will be elusive or a will-o-the-wisp and you will never attain your goal. Happiness must be bestowed on you as a gift, not something you go out and purchase or find desperately.  Some people are so deluded into thinking that money buys happiness, and when they get it they just want more money and a lid never gets put on the greed.  If you love money, you will never have enough--that's why you ask a millionaire how much money he needs, and he will tell you, "Just a little more!"  Don't fall into the temptation to desire to get rich.

God is looking for smiling faces (some people's face just say they are happy, and others need to tell their face that they're happy!) and people who are happy campers.  People content with God's will for their life (which is not accepting the status quo with complacency) are a good advertisement for the Lord, while malcontents and grumpy believers are darkness and do not show the light of the gospel that we should be promoting as lights in a dark world.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Seeking God?

God's Word promises that all who do indeed seek God "earnestly" will find Him. "Ask, and it will be given to you, seek, and you will find, knock, and it will be opened to you" (Matt. 7:7). "And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13). However, it also says, "Seek the Lord while He may be found..." (Isaiah 55:6a). "He that comes to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6). So God does promise to reward the sincere seeker and not the mere trifler.

Some say that they are glad so many people are "seeking God" as they read the best-seller The Shack, but the Word says, "There is none who seeks God" ( Rom. 3:11b). Martin Luther says, "To say: man does not seek God is to say: man cannot seek God." They are seeking the benefits, not the Benefactor. They are in reality running away from God and hiding from Him like Adam in the garden. Isaiah 65:1b says, "I was found by those who didn't seek Me." "The search for God begins at salvation, it doesn't end at salvation," according to R. C. Sproul. Seeking God is the main business of the Christian's life, says Jonathan Edwards.

The reward is not money, fame, fortune, prosperity, or anything material, but God Himself--He is the reward. "I am thy great and precious reward," said God to Abraham (cf. Ps. 73:26). Some people think that sincerity impresses God and that He rewards all who are sincere in their religiosity. God is no man's debtor and seeks out those whom He wills and chose in eternity past. We get none of the glory or credit, not even the bragging rights to say we sought God-we cannot pat ourselves on the back at all. You have to be sincere, but that in itself does not obligate God. Many a Muslim is sincere and fanatical to boot. God owes no man and is obliged to save no man, but all is grace. Soli Deo Gloria!